When musical “revolutions” in Rock n’ Roll are highlighted, there is usually around 3 or 4 acts listed for each “movement”. Early Rock n’ Roll can be narrowed down to Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and Little Richard. The British Invasion is always highlighted as The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who. My British 70’s Hard Rock triumvirate would be Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. The Seattle Grunge movement usually highlights Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. When it comes to the Punk movement of the 70’s, The top bands that are listed are the Ramones, The Sex Pistols and the Clash.
For myself, I was pretty much an ignorant naive kid when it came to the punk movement. One of the first times I heard of the Sex Pistols was as part of a punchline on the CBS sitcom “Alice”. Believe me, it wasn’t funny enough to repeat. Most of what I knew about punk was the funny fashions of safety pins(on clothes or pierced into cheeks), leather, and mohawk haircuts. I met a kid at church camp in 1981 who was a fan of punk rock and continued to repeat only one line from a Sex Pistols tune. I honestly don’t remember what that song was. I once was asked from the high school debate coach/teacher to be a timekeeper for informative speeches in our local competition. One of my fellow classmates did a speech on the Punk rock movement. So, I was educated in that sense. A lot of the punk movement morphed into what became known as “New Wave” music in the early 80’s….or at least that’s what it seemed like with the fashions of the funny haircuts and neon colors. So, I came to realize that Punk was more about a musical ATTITUDE against the “old” guard and the self indulgent “dinosaur” rock that was big in the early 70’s than it was about fashions. So, this blog will be about the band( and the album) that still stands on top of the heap of great rock bands no matter what the category or genre.
By the time I entered my high school years, The Clash had made a splash in the mainstream pop world with the song Rock the Casbah. I also vaguely remember seeing the Clash on ABC’s answer to NBC’s Saturday Night Live which was the show FRIDAYS!
When I saw them on FRIDAYS, I was into bands like Styx, Journey and ELO. I spent most of my high school years as a hard rockin’ kid. So, the Clash was not a band that was on my musical radar. It wasn’t until I went to college and met a bunch of new friends with different musical tastes. First, I met Shaun..who I had met at KSC music camp. In my blog on YES –Fragile, I reminisced about Shaun educating a bunch of North Platte kids about what Punk Rock and Hard Core really was. Suddenly, the pop-metal I had grown fond of became somewhat hollow. Shaun was definitely a friend that I could spend time listening to music and hanging out at a record store with. Another friend that was instrumental in my discovery of the Clash was my "Dustys’ Brother” – Forrest. I’ve written before how Forrest and I had very different tastes in music when I started at Dustys Records. I don’t think Forrest liked my tastes in Hard Rock/Heavy Metal when I first started and I wasn’t a big fan of bands like R.E.M. and the Smiths. But, that changed over time.
Everyday at Dustys, we would bring in music to play during store hours. We were all fans of different kinds of music. So, it was inevitable that you find something outside of your listening “comfort zone” that made your ears perk up. There would be days where Forrest would show up with a handful of Clash CD’s or LP’s. He would proclaim something like “I am in a big Clash mood today!” So, he would put on his Clash CD’s in the store player, stand at the counter while he lit up a cigarette and he would mouth all the words to the songs. As I would listen, I got wrapped up in the rawness and then the diverseness of the Clash.
At the end of the 80’s, it seemed that all the media outlets came up with “Best of the 80’s” lists. There was much talk about what was the best album, the best selling, etc. I was in my final year of college at the University of Nebraska-Kearney(then known as Kearney State College). I was surrounded by a slew of friends who were big music fans and we would talk about music to all hours of the night. In 1989, Rolling Stone magazine published a special issue spotlighting what the magazine considered the “100 Greatest Albums of the 80’s”
Many of the albums were ones that we had grown up with and were absolutely gigantic albums of the 80’s like Michael Jackson’s Thriller, U2’s Joshua Tree, Springsteen’s Born in the USA, and Prince’s Purple Rain. But, at the top of the list was the Clash’s album London Calling. This was a surprise to many of us. Even looking back now, I’m a little puzzled because the album was released in 1979. According to RS, the album was released stateside in January of 1980. Back then, Rock fans turned to Rolling Stone magazine for everything important in the world of popular music. So, I was intrigued to the reason why this was at #1 as the “Greatest album of the 80’s” But, Rolling Stone magazine says it is. That gave me at least a reason to look into it.
I didn’t have anything against the Clash. I actually enjoyed the raw feeling they had to their music. But, I stayed compelled to having a copy of this album. I bought a used CD copy of it while I was living in Omaha in the early 90’s. But, many of the CBS records releases on CD in the 80’s were subpar in sound quality. So, the 90’s was a time of many “Remasters”. The original copy I owned was an 80’s/less-than-stellar recording. I kept telling myself I wanted to own a copy of London Calling. I sold my old used copy in thinking I would replace it soon. I didn’t replace that copy till this past December. It wasn’t until years passed that I really longed for this album. It was a matter of memories from Dustys and it was obviously something different from my almost steady diet of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Van Halen.
When I listen to this album, it becomes more than a “Punk Rock” record. Yes, these guys had the angst of a rebellious rock band. But, these guys weren’t just bashing away at their instruments. I had read that bassist Paul Simonon didn’t even know how to play the bass when they started the band. But, this album was an intelligent album of different and varied styles. According to RS Magazine’s 100 Best Albums’ article,
“Kicking and screaming across a nineteen-song double album, skidding between ska, reggae, R&B, third-world music, power pop and full-tilt punk, the Clash stormed the gates of rock convention and single-handedly set the agenda — musically, politically and emotionally — for the decade to come.”
Ska, Reggae, R&B, Third World music and Punk?…all this in an album from a bunch of “punks” in the 70’s? As a teenager in the early 80’s, I wanted to hear Hard Rocking distorted guitars especially if they were shown in the same issue of Hit Parader magazine as Van Halen. These weren’t things I had opened my mind to. Then, that strange time in many young men’s life happened…..College! I found I loved the rhythms of reggae and ska. In today’s music environment, all of those ingredients of this album are prevalent in current music. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, the floodgates opened for many Third World music artists and sounds. They had definitely “broke the barriers” the punk movement had inevitably put up for themselves with the album London Calling!
When the Clash was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it was a very big year for a bunch of artists. The Clash, AC/DC, The Police, and Elvis Costello were all inducted that same year. I’m usually interested in a couple of artists and that’s it. That year, I was wrapped up in the whole thing.
Around the same time, vocalist/Clash leader Joe Strummer had passed away. So, the tributes meant a lot more. That year at the Grammys, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steve Van Zandt and Dave Grohl all stepped up to pay tribute to Joe Strummer. It was very powerful to me and it sparked my urge to own this album yet again.
So, I bought the album this past December on CD and it’s been on my MP3 player ever since. I love the sound of the “English-ness” of it. Joe Strummer’s vocals are so raw. I find myself just entranced by his raspiness. I expect him to lose his voice at any second. Mick Jones cockney accent flavors the album with his own identity. Paul Simonon’s vocals and pulsing bass keep everything in pounding of the punk attitude. Topper Headon’s drumming was more than just “punk” drumming. It encompasses all the genres the band had jumped in feet first to embrace.
I’ve spent a long time on and off writing this particular “memory” for my blog. I have second guessed how my friends that read this will interpret it. I was not a punk fan. I don’t go out looking for a punk record to buy. I don’t claim to be an expert on the punk movement. This album may have started from one of the bands of the punk movement. This is not a punk album. This is an awesome Rock and Roll Album and I absolutely love this album and don’t regret at all buying this at all.
